Anniversary Adventure 2011

This year (Oct. 3rd) was our 19th wedding anniversary. We didn't have big plans but the Mr. was invited to *work* a Dinner Detective Show at the franchise in SF. (he works the local franchises regularly) We used that opportunity as an excuse to get away & call it an 'anniversary trip'. We had no idea it was also a big marathon weekend!

We survived a slightly tense trek from the airport to the Hotel...once we found it since we exited the subway too early (dejavu' NY!)...we were thrilled upon arrival to discover our reservation had been CANCELLED. Being familiar with adventure we were only  a little bit annoyed. The Mr. needed to start rehearsing w/ the cast he'd never met before so we headed toward the show hotel and confidently thought we'd figure something out once we got there.

The next leg of our trip was interrupted by an Occupy San Francisco protest. It was so strange. We were in a decent area and a few feet over the air and energy changed and suddenly I noticed vagrants, graffiti and abandoned businesses. As we were walking, traffic stopped and a large swarm of people, carrying protest signs and shouting protest slogans, came marching down the street. The hairs on my arms stood on end. On our side of the street a small band of black men shouted anger filled slurs and hate toward the protesters and, it seemed, toward America in general. They shouted things like; "Death to America!" and "America is Dead!" They had a large cardboard sign but I did not want them to think I was staring at them so I was not able to read what was written on it. They were wearing some sort of robes but they did not look clean cut.  On the other side of the street were "Christians" holding large signs referring to the sin of homosexuality. I don't remember exactly what was written on it but their faces...the ones holding the signs, looked very bland. Not approachable at all and easy to ignore--bored maybe? I'm not sure...

We hiked up a big hill (isn't that *all* of SF?), decided to hop onto an over stuffed trolley car and finally arrived to the location of the show and that hotel was sold out--booked solid. I tried to find openings online to no avail. I enjoyed myself anyway, watching the Mr. in action for the show. I'd never seen it before and had a great time. It helped that our friend/franchise owner's girlfriend came along, so we sat next to each other. The show included dinner--that was nice. Our table was filled w/ other friendly guests of the evening. They had a great time and when the show was over and we revealed we were related to the "owner" & "detective"--they were so excited & said that made their night even *better*. (the exact quote was F*^&*#@ AWESOME!)

During the middle of the show I decided to check with the front desk again, tell them our cancellation-sob-story, smile big and beg if necessary. Turns out they had a cancellation but it was a smoking room and even though it was 9:00 pm it was not ready yet. The woman at the counter was nice and gave us a discount. It still ended up being more than we planned since our cancelled reservation was part of a "package". The room was very luxurious and lovely and we were happy with it...especially since our only other option was spending the night in Denny's!

The next day we headed toward the Wharf. We'd been here before a few years ago but for a full weekend--and had a great time. We ate a nice brunch at the Boudin Bakery. The weather was cool but nice. No trip is complete without a walk around Ghiradelli Square and free chocolate samples from the Ghiradelli chocolate shop. We wanted to bring bread, cookies and chocolate back home to everyone BUT we thought the airport still had security rules of no food. We found out too late we were wrong & it's only liquids you can't bring on. :-( We walked around & window shopped---exactly what I said I did NOT want to do. Funny how that works out. The Mr. wanted to see the sea lions...again. I figured once you've seen them--you've SEEN them and had no desire to repeat the experience.

We picked up a few minor souvenirs for the ktbunch back home and before we knew it...it was time to head back to the air port. I was sad to end our trip so soon. We took a longer ride on the trolley car back to Union Square. We had time to check out the grand opening of a museum. It was mainly Japanese art--very interesting sculptures in a style I had never seen before. They looked like giant wax rocks encapsulating a cave inside. Once sign said they were irreplicable. Amazing!

We finally figured out the BART. We were almost to the airport just as a Raider game was finishing. I'd never seen so many fans in one place. It was as if the whole world was dressed in black and silver. The Mr. was so excited to see that. It was a bummer we couldn't have gone to a game...I'm not really sad about that. haha.

We arrived at the airport dutifully on time just to have our flight delayed and delayed again. We almost missed it because they never announced it was even boarding. Good thing for us they DID call us by name over the loud speaker. We were the *last* people to board the plane!

I've come to accept that my life will never go exactly as planned...so it's a good thing we're always up for adventure, no matter what we do. It's what gives my life 'character'....I believe.